Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was born in approximately 100 BC into the prestigious Julian clan. He joined the Roman Army in 81 BC and was the first Roman army commander to invade England in 55 and 54 BC. As a child he was well educated, good at sport and his family were involved within Roman politics. Caesar went on to develop his own interest in politics and became very driven to get the highest positions in Roman politics. In 65 BC he was appointed an ‘adele’ and put in charge of public entertainment. Caesar invested a lot of effort into this role and made sure to provide the best entertainment money could buy. Because of this he became very popular with Rome.

Caesar was made a consul in 59 BC (a wealthy advisor) and served in France (known as Gaul) as a governor. Through this position he was successful and able to conquer more land for the Roman Empire. However, he was seen as cruel by some due to his drive of expanding his own personal power and made enemies of important Roman politicians.

Julias Caesar

The Senate ordered Caesar to hand over his army to them in 49 BC, but he refused. Instead he advanced upon Italy but came to a halt at the dividing line between France and Italy (River Rubicon). According to Roman law a governor was not allowed to leave his province, but Caesar ignored this and crossed over anyway to confront his enemies in Rome. This was considered treason by the Senate but they were not able to do much - Caesar had a powerful and experienced army.

Caesar returned to Rome as a dictator in 45 BC. He allowed the Senate to continue working but replaced disloyal senators with his own men. Caesar should have made these men powerless but he did not and they ended up plotting against him.

He was murdered in 44 BC by politicians who feared he had become too occupied with his own importance. His murder happened at the Senate House in Rome and it caused the city to divide based on whether the murder had been a good thing or not.

"Our tyrant deserved to die. Here was a man who wanted to be king of the Roman people and master of the whole world. Those who agree with an ambition like this must also accept the destruction of existing laws and freedoms. It is not right or fair to want to be king in a state that used to be free and ought to be free today." Cicero, Roman philosopher

"People blame me for mourning the death of my friend. They say my country should be preferred to my friends, as if they had proved that killing him was good for the state. I did not abandon him as a friend however much I disapproved of what he was doing." Gaius Matius, friend of Caesar